Adjustable surgical splint



April 22, 1969 A. B. FISHER 3,439,672

ADJUSTABLE SURGICAL SPLINT Filed Nov. 15. 1966 Sheet of 2 FIG. 3

FIG 9 INVENTOR.

ALLA-7V 5 F/Jfi EB ATTORNEY April 22, 1959 A. B. FISHER 3,439,672

ADJUSTABLE SURGICAL SPLINT Filed Nov. 15, 1966 Sheet 2 of 2 I INVENTOR. ALIA-7V B. Fl'fifie ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,439,672 ADJUSTABLE SURGICAL SPLINT Allen B. Fisher, 5507 Osage Ave., Baltimore, Md. 21227 Filed Nov. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 594,449 Int. Cl. A61f /04; F16c 11/00 US. Cl. 128-88 4 Claims This invention relates to surgical splints and more specifically to splints of the type having several parts adjustable with respect to each other such as are employed in the setting of broken bones, rectification of anatomical deformities and the like, and which are used in situations where parts of the body must be held immovable in certain set positions to effect the curative results desired.

It is one object of this invention to provide a splint made up of a number of parts adjustable and changeable with respect to each other to adapt the same to a substantial number of difierent situations and purposes.

It is a further object to provide such a sprint with a minimum number of parts and in which the adjustment may be quickly made without the aid of tools or removal of parts and consequently may be quickly adapted and applied to a person for whatever his particular case requires in the opinion of the doctor or emergency squad, etc. in charge.

It is a still further object to provide a splint of the character mentioned which is equally adaptable for use on an ambulatory patient or on one confined to a bed or on an operating table, etc. to hold various extremities of the patient immovable in various angular positions or provide an angular support for treatment as is on occasion required. It is also contemplated to provide, in the splint, a means to fasten the same in various positions of adjustment to a bed, table or the like.

The above and further objects will become more apparent as the following description of a typical specific preferred form of the splint proceeds; reference being had for this purpose to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a splint according to my invention,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view substantially on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the adjustable joints taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG- URE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a plan view looking from below FIG- URE 1 showing details of the other adjustable joint,

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view through the joint shown in FIGURE 4 and is taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4,

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views showing several positions of adjustment of the splint, and FIGURE 9 is a plan view of the member 16.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the splint is composed of two elongated members 10 and 11 of lengths and widths to suit the use to which the splint is to be adapted and may be made of any suitable material such as plastic, wood, metal, etc. The adjacent ends of the splint members are joined by means of an adjustable angle joint generally indicated by reference numeral 12 which will hereinafter be more specifically described.

The members 10 and 11 are shown provided with pad members 13 and 14 respectively, attached to one side thereof, which pad members may be made of any suitable material, such as sponge rubber, foamed plastic, kapok, gauze, etc. Also, as the members 10 and 11 are lapped at the adjustable hinge joint 12, the pads may be made of different thicknesses as shown, to insure a top surface for the splint in a single plane. It is to be understood, however, that the pads mentioned may or may not be used as the particular situation requires, or the pads may vary in thickness or may cover only a portion of the length of the members 10 and 11, depending upon the specific requirements of the case at hand.

The adjustable angle joint 12 is shown in detail in FIG- URES 4 and 5 and comprises a hollow pintle or stud member 15 fixed with respect to the elongated member 11 by means of a head member 16 welded or otherwise permanently secured to the pintle member and screws 17 extending through holes in the head member and threaded into the member 11. The pintle passes rotatably through an opening in the elongated member 10, said opening being provided with a bearing sleeve 18 fixed in the member 10. A spacer flange 19 may be provided on the sleeve 18 to slightly space the members 10 and 11 and thus make for easy adjustment of said members relative to each other.

The pintle 15 extends beyond the side of the member 10 and on its extending portion there is fixed a notched disc element 20, the notches 21 of which are equally spaced about the entire circumference thereof. The notched disc is non-rotatably fastened to the pintle by an H-headed split screw member 22 threaded into the hollow pintle with the head thereof overlying the notched disc. To non-rotatably fasten the notched disc to the pintle an expander screw 23 is threaded into a bore in the split screw member and expands the same into locking engagement with both the pintle member and the notched disc. Thus the elongated member 11, the pintle member 15 and the notched disc 20 will all turn as a unit with respect to member 10 and the elongated members may be adjusted angularly with respect to each other.

To hold the members 10 and 11 in any of their various positions of adjustment there is provided a detent member 24 which is mounted in a bracket 25 having apertured end flanges 26 through which the detent slidably passes. This bracket is fastened to the member 10 by screws 27. The end of the detent 28 can thus engage in any of the notches 21 in the notched disc 20 to hold the members 10 and 11 in adjusted position. The detent 24 is normally urged toward the notched disc by spring 29 located within the bracket 25 and acting against one flange 26 on the bracket and a shoulder 30 on the detent member. Handle 31 on the detent is provided whereby the detent may be manually retracted from the notches in the disc to allow adjustment of the members 10 and 11 relative to each other.

In the event the splint is to be attached to a bed, examining or operating table in cases which require the patient to be so confined, a second adjustable angle joint attached to the end of element 11 is provided as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. This joint is substantial duplicate of that previously described and identical parts of the two joints bear the same reference numerals. The element 10 with its bearing sleeve 18 and flange 19 as described in the joint between members 10 and 11, however, are eliminated in the second joint and the pintle has bearing directly in a bore in element 32 which in this instance is of metal and requires no separate bearing sleeve. The element 32 is provided at one end with a conventional C-type clamp 33, or any other suitable method, for fastening the splint to the bed or table 34.

The bracket 25 in this second joint is mounted on the side of element 32 by means of an angle member 35 as shown in FIGURE 2 and may be fastened by means of screws or bolts 36.

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 are somewhat diagrammatic showings of several of the many positions to which the two sections of the splint may be adjusted to accommodate different situations in the application of the splint to the body of a patient. The splints are held in place on the limb of the patient preferably by wrapping a tie of some type about the splint and the limb. The tie may be of C9 any suitable kind such as strips of cloth, roll tape bandage, string, etc.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is pointed out that I do not desire to be limited specifically thereto, but to be limited only to the extent required by the prior art and as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A surgical splint comprising a pair of elongated splint elements having overlapping end portions, an adjustable angle hinge joint connecting said splint elements and providing for angular adjustment of said elements with respect to each other, said hinge joint including a pintle non-rotatably attached to one of said splint elements and rotatably received in a bore in the other splint element and extending outwardly beyond said other element on the side opposite said one splint element, a peripherally notched disc nonrotatably fixed on, said outwardly extending portion of said pintle, a spring urged locking detent carried by said other splint element and receivable in any of the notches of said notched disc to hold said splint elements in adjusted position with respect to each other.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the elongated splint elements are provided with padding on the sides opposite the sides on which the notched disc and detent are located.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said one splint element is provided with a clamp on the end opposite its end overlapping said other splint element for attaching the splint to a table or the like.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the one splint element and the clamp are adjustably connected to each other through a second adjustable angle hinge joint.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner. R. L. FRINKS, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 287-14, 99 

1. A SURGICAL SPLINT COMPRISING A PAIR OF ELONGATED SPLINT ELEMENTS HAVING OVERLAPPING END PORTIONS, AN ADJUSTABLE ANGLE HINGE JOINT CONNECTING SAID SPLINT ELEMENTS AND PROVIDING FOR ANGULAR ADJUSTMENT OF SAID ELEMENTS WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER, SAID HINGE JOINT INCLUDING A PINTLE NON-ROTATABLY ATTACHED TO ONE OF SAID SPLINT ELEMENTS AND ROTATABLY RECEIVED IN A BORE IN THE OTHER SPLINT ELEMENT AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY BEYOND SAID OTHER ELEMENT ON THE SIDE OPPOSITE SAID ONE SPLINT ELEMENT, A PERIPHERALLY NOTCHED DISC NONROTATABLY FIXED ON SAID OUTWARDLY EXTENDING PORTION OF SAID PINTLE, A SPRING URGED LOCKING DETENT CARRIED BY SAID OTHER SPLINT ELEMENT AND RECEIVABLE IN ANY OF THE NOTCHES OF SAID NOTCHED DISC TO HOLD SAID PSLINT ELEMENTS IN ADJUSTED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER. 